Here are your Spanish football evening headlines for June 23.
Spain cruise through
Spain romped their way into the Euro 2020 knockout stages with a comfortable win over Slovakia in their final group stage fixture.
La Roja came into this one on the back of two draws, managing just one goal from 180 minutes, but all concerns surrounding their troubles in front of goal soon vanished.
Luis Enrique‘s men managed five in their final game at La Cartuja in this competition, making easy work of Slovakia.
Spain missed another penalty here, Alvaro Morata failing to find the net from the spot after Gerard Moreno missed a spot-kick in the draw with Poland.
But after stopping the penalty, Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka went from hero to zero as he lost Pablo Sarabia’s shot in the sun before palming the ball into his own net.
Busquets on his emotional return
Sergio Busquets has spoken about his difficult road back to the Spain squad following his positive coronavirus test.
The Barcelona midfielder was ruled out of La Roja’s first two games following a positive test in the lead up to Euro 2020.
As a result, he was sent home to Barcelona to isolate for 10 days before he could return following the isolation period and a negative test.
The veteran midfielder finally returned this week and he was allowed to play and start against Slovakia as Spain secured their spot in the Round of 16 with a 5-0 win.
Busquets won man of the match for his performance after coming in to replace Rodri in the starting XI, and after the game, he spoke about his emotional battle to return to the team following his isolation period.
See what Busquets had to say here
Odegaard heading back to Real Madrid
Martin Odegaard has confirmed he will be part of Real Madrid’s plans for the time being amid links with a permanent move to Arsenal.
The Norwegian midfielder joined Arsenal on a loan deal in the January transfer window and went on to impress despite the Gunners enduring a disappointing campaign, missing out on Europe for the first time in 25 years.
Odegaard’s performances meant he became a permanent target for Arsenal, but it has been looking more and more likely the 22-year-old will return to the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of next season.
And that will be the case, as confirmed by Odegaard himself, who told TV2: “The status is that I am a Madrid player and that I will return and start up there in a week and a half.”
